Reflecting device



June 19, 1945 R. ANDERSON REFLECTING DEVICE Filed Nov. 16, 1943 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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. June19, 1945. R. L. ANDERSON 2,373,677

I REFLEcTmG EE IGE Filed Nov. 16, 1943 i 2 .sh tssneet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented June 19,1945

f The device: forming the-subject matter'of' this application -affordsnovel means whereby "light i *located a 'ring" 6 tiltable orr pivotelements" 1 1 which are located in chordal relation to the' upper :may'be :shed .downwa'rdl'y'ifrom P an overhead v source; to'be received-bya; plurality ofdbtverre flectors disposed about'said source. the lower*re 'fiectorsij being so gmounted that they: will" have; a

wide range of ,movementlto' concentrate *or-diifuse the lightproceeding. from them, the ize-pr the area; reflected, andtheelevationthereoffbe- .infg undejnthe controlof anoperator.

a member 2-of the stand l The inner rings 8*carry 'upwardly facingreflectors E l "The construction .fgThi'invention aims, further, toprovidea simple' .ins'trument'ality characterized by structural featuresf promoting the result hereinbefore alluded to."

;.;It .is within the, province of: the 'disclosure "to improvegenerallyand to enhance'rthe utility "of devices; of that type to whichithe present inven- .tion.appeltains.f

fWithTtheflabove and other objects View. which-will rappearflas'lthe'description proceeds,

the.inventioniresides in. the combination and- -ar'- 'rangement...ojparts. and in', the details of con- .stru'ction hereinafter Idescribed and claimed, it .beingunder'sto'odthat changesin the prec1seembodiment of. the invention; herein "disclosed, may

.be.made ."within5. the .scope of; what .islclaime'd, without'jdepartingvfrozni the spirit of the; inven- .tion.',. -..QI g

In-theaccorfipanyingdrawings; I

in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section wherein most i I y Fig} lgshows intopi'plan, a device constructed parts appear in elevation, portionsbeing broken Fig; 3 is a transversesection on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1:

Fig. 4 is asection on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a transversesection on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

. In carrying out the invention there is provided a stand I. which maybe constructed in various ways. without de arting from the spirit of theinvention. Preferably. the stand I includes an upper annular member 2and a lower annular member '3, the annular members being of the samediameter. In cross section. the members 2 and 3 may be angles. Theannular-members 2 and 3 are connected by standards 4, spaced aparttransversely as may be desired. the standards ber inq adapted to est attheir lower ends on any supportin structures which may be available Theupper member 2 of the stand I carries cir- 'cumferentially spacedhorizontal, inwardly pro- .lecting brackets 5; The brackets 5 arearranged in pairs, and between the brackets of each pair openings l1;

annular member '2, the *pivot elements ,being mounted inthe brackets 5.Innerrings Bare disposed'within" the outer rings 6. The inner rings 8'areco'nnected to the outer rings 6 by pivot e'lements9,--'disposed'-radi ally of'theg upper annular is such that thereflectors I0 aremountedonghnbeds, for substantiallyuniversar-swing 1move f Qwingto the provision-of the inwardly projectmg brackets '5,-theupper annularmember 2 or the stand I is disposed outwardly of therings'B "and 8 and the reflectors I 0, the annular member, "thus,serving as a protection for the partsspeci- "Thenumer'alf H designates ahollow reflector, of "dish-like, inverted; frusto-conical" f0rm,1o

the'reis: a-lamp fl 2foperated in any 'desiredway,

the lamp'being an electric lamp if .desired,as the "conductorcable 14.indicates.

" 'I'herl pper reflector ll is s stained, preferablyupon-a tripod,theupper portions of the legs 0f the tripod 'beingmarkedby the numerall5. The :upper portions of the tripod legs may be inwardly facingchannels; as shown atlfi. inEig. 5', the up per portions of thetripod'legs being secured to The upper"porti'ons'| 5' of the thereflector ll. tripod legs have longitudinally spaced seats or The lowerportions H? of the tripod legs are channels, as shown at I 9 in Fig. 5and slide on the outside of the upper portions l 5 'of the tripod legs,the lowerportions I8 having inwardly projecting flanges 20, whichoverlap theedges of the side walls of the upper portions 15 of the legsand hold the leg parts 18 and I5 together for relative longitudinalsliding movement. The tripod legs are disposed within the annularmembers 2 and 3 of the stand I, and the lower members ll! of the tripodlegs rest on the support S. When the parts are arranged as-shown in Fig.2, the

legs of the tripod engage the inner edges of the lower annular member 3of the stand I. i

In order to hold the tripod legs at adjusted lengths thereby to vary theposition of the upper reflector ll relatively to the lower reflectorsl0, lever latches 2| are fulcrumed intermediate their ends, as at 22, onthe lower portions I 8 of the tripod legs, the latches having, each,v areduced nose 23 (Fig. 4), movable in an opening I 24 in the lower legportion I 8 and adapted to be received in any of the longitudinallyspaced seats II of the upper portions I5 of the tripod legs, under theimpulse of a spring 25 interposed between the lower leg portion I8 andthe free end of the latch 2 I.

In practical operation, the upper reflector II causes the lamp I2 toshed its rays downwardly on the lower reflectors I0, and the reflectorsIII, in turn, direct the rays upwardly. Since the outer rings 6 can betilted on the pivotal connections I, the reflectors I0 may be tilteddownwardly and inwardly, causing the rays proceeding upwardly from thereflectors ID to meet at a point well above the reflector I I and upon asingle air-- 7 plane or other elevated object. When a larger field isdesired, for instance, when there are several airplanes above thedevice, the inner edges of the outer rings 6 may be elevated. Anyone ofthe rings 6, or all of them, may be tilted downwardly and outwardly attheir outer edges, and, thus, a field of considerable area will beilluminated. 1 g

The inner rings 8 and the reflectors III may be tilted, singly ortogether, upon radial axes represented by the pivot elements 9 and,therefore, illumination may be provided longitudinally of the line 33 ofFig. 1, instead of transversely of that line. In general, the reflectorsI0 have a wide range of movement, either as individual parts or as agroup. r Y

The .device will be found to be useful in connection with waroperations, in the moving picture industry, and under many otherconditions which will suggest themselves readily vto the Since the upperportions I5 of the tripod legs are secured to thereflector I I, whenrelative longitudinal movement between the parts I5 and I8 of the legstakes places,.the legsare spaced inwardly with respect to the lower ring3,.and,

therefore, the tripod and the reflector I I may be shiftedhorizontally,with respect-to the vertical axis of a circle passing through thegeometrical center of the lower reflectors I0. In this way, thedirection in which light is thrown upwardly by the lower reflectors l0may be varied. If the vertical axis. of the reflector II coincides withthe center of a circle passing through the centers of the lowerreflectors I0, all of those reflectors will receive light uniformly.

-What is claimed is:

1. In a reflecting device, a stand comprising a ring, inwardlyprojecting brackets mounted on the ring and disposed in pairs, anupwardly facing lower reflector located between the brackets of eachpair, the ring being located outwardly of the lower reflectors to serveas a guard therefor, gimbal structure mounting the lower reflectors onthe brackets of the respective pairs, for universal tilting movement, adownwardly-facing upper reflector disposed higher than the lowerreflectors and so located as to reflect light downwardly upon the lowerreflectors, a lamp illuminating the upper reflector, and a tripodcarrying the upper reflector and extended downwardly through the ring,to rest on a common support with the stand.

2. In a reflecting device, a stand comprising upper and lower rings andstandards connecting the rings, upwardly-facing lower reflectorsdisposed in a circle, means formounting the lower reflectors foruniversal tilting movement, inwardly of the upper ring, whereby theupper ring will serve as a guard for the lower reflectors, .adownwardly-facing upper reflector disposed higher than the lowerreflectors and so located as to reflect light downwardly upon the lowerreflectors, and a multipod sustaining device connected to the upperreflector and extended downwardly through both rings, to rest on acommon support with the stand, the sustaining device engaging within thelower ring, to centralize the upper reflector with respect to saidcircle, and

' a. downwardly-facing upper reflector disposed higher, than the lowerreflectors and so located as to reflect light downwardly upon the lowerreflectors, and a sustaining device connected to the upperreflector andextended downwardly through both rings, to rest on a common supportwiththe stand, the sustaining device being engageable with the lowerring, to centralize the upper reflector with respect to said circle, andmeans for illuminating the upper reflector.

. ROBERT L. ANDERSON.

